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The Royal Allegiance
The Royal Allegiance was the governing body of the Theran species whose territories covered controlled a conglomeration of over 29 million worlds. A Tier 1 species, the Therans and the Allegiance outmatched the Covenant in terms of technological superiority but was inferior to the Forerunners. A major galactic power from its emergence in 2553, the Allegiance was a prominent participatory in several galaxy-wide events beginning with the Remnant War (2553-2559) and culminating in the apocalyptic Swarm War (2733-2878). History Origins The origins of the Theran species, and thus the creation of the Allegiance, lie mainly in a coincidence. A small group of beings from The Order, an genetically enhanced race of humans, were put onto a Forerunner vessel, bound for an unknown destination. It travelled with two other ships, a Keyship and another Forerunner vessel, both filled with humans, to ensure the humans safely arrived back on Earth after sheltering on The Ark. However, disaster befell the three ships. They were hit by a spatial disturbance, disrupting their systems. The single Keyship vented its atmosphere as well as its cargo of humans and drifted, empty, into deep space. The ship filled with the enhanced humans flew off course. The final ship was unaffected and the humans safely returned to Earth. The wayward ship drifted for hundreds of years, its cargo in suspension. Eventually it reached a former Forerunner city planet of Thera. Automated protocols activated and the ship was guided to the planet's surface, with most of its inhabitants surviving and being released from suspension. Over the next few thousand years or so, the Therans spread out across the entire planet. The Forerunner city was, for the most part, underground, so above ground there was space for hunting and eventually farming. The Therans began to construct primitive settlements which grew slowly larger in size and complexity. For the most part, the Therans kept out of the Forerunner sections of the planet, as they were the subject of superstition and rumour. In particular, being underground and unknown, they had amassed a reputation for bad luck and strange, metal floating objects. A legendary group of Therans, known as the Night Walkers, dared to brave the alien areas and explore, despite the taboo associated with this. Historians looking back agree that, without the Night Walkers, the Allegiance would never have advanced so quickly, as they were the driving force behind discovering and harnessing Forerunner technology. Galactic Expansion Following the discovery of and use of Forerunner technology, the Therans rapidly advanced, reaching Tier 3 around 7,000 BC. Around this time they also colonised their first few planets, Avalon and Haven. By 2500 they had a territory spanning 45,000 light years and encompassing over 7.49 billion inhabitable worlds and 29 million populated ones. The Royal Allegiance had amassed a population of over four hundred thirty-five trillion by 2700. A massive project to populate more than 1% of the Allegiance's inhabitable planets was planned to start in 2741 but was cancelled after the start of the Swarm War, as all non-essential resources were diverted to the war effort. In 2553 the Unified Coalition of Governments was formed, with the Allegiance one of its most prominent member states. This was not a centralised multispecies government but an organisation set up between the galaxy's governments to promote peace and act as a platform for dialog. From 2743 onwards the militaries of the member states were gradually standardised and conglomerated into one, forming the USG Armed Forces. In 2878 the Royal Allegiance was dissolved and its power transferred to the UCG, creating the first ultimate interspecies government, much like the United Earth Government several hundred years previously. Wars and Conflicts Despite the fact that the Theran people abhorred war, their advanced nature and large territory meant that the Allegiance participated in numerous large-scale conflicts, not just in galactic affair but internal conflict too. The Ancient War The Ancient War was a supposed war occurring long before the founding of The Allegiance. The theory for this postulates a legendary and apocalyptic event in which Theran religious belief grounded much of its mythological teaching. Every little evidence to support the Ancient War existed, the few examples being carvings in ancient temples of unknown origin (such as the Tomb of The Sovereigns on Britannia and the Hall of the Chevrons on Haven) and archaic writings in obscure, long-dead languages. Reformation War The Reformation War, fought between 2418 and 2422, was a series of bitter conflicts between The Allegiance Loyalists and a splinter-faction called The Guild. Effectively a civil war, the event severely affected the Allegiance's integrity, economy and military strength, with after-effects still being felt in the Allegiance by at least 2550. The war strengthened the national psyche's extreme aversion of war, but ironically did nothing to prevent wars of external origin occurring in the future. Remnant War The Allegiance made first contact with the UNSC in mid-2553, as a result of a purely coincidental encounter. The Allegiance immediately lent aid and military support to the beleaguered UNSC, who grudgingly and cautiously accepted. By July the Allegiance, Sangheili and UNSC were planning concerted attacks on the Covenant, who continued to attack the Human race despite their defeat at the Ark. Before the end of the year the Sangheili and the Allegiance launched massive attacks on the disarrayed Covenant Empire. The Covenant slowly fragmented and split into factions, largely controlled by feuding warlords and former Covenant commanders; the threat of a Covenant reunification was neutralised in 2559, when the Covenant was formally brought to an end and an aggressively sought cease-fire agreed. Swarm War In 2733, an destructive and deadly race was discovered, initiating a war that spanned over a century and a half. The Swarm had been discovered, an insectoid race which fed off of sentient life-forms. The Swarm War devastated the entire galaxy, although the Allegiance bore the brunt of the Swarm assaults for the first few years. The war lasted for almost one hundred and fifty years (2733-2878) and left a lasting impact on the galaxy, killing hundreds of trillions of individuals, pushing the galaxy to the brink of mass-extinction and rendering billions of worlds temporarily or permanently uninhabitable. Governance The Royal Allegiance was a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch has certain limited powers, alongside a parliament, although the de facto leaders were the Council of Five. Each council member was appointed from one of the five sectors of Allegiance space, and the Council voted on laws and made decisions. Each of the five sectors effectively counted as a political party, with a senate for each sector. Every 6 years the overall population voted on which sector should gain control, and the Council member for that sector was appointed Chancellor, who had the most power of all, including the ability to overrule a maximum of two other councillors in terms of voting. In addition, the ruling Monarch had the power to overrule the Chancellor but not the other council members. The Monarch was seen as the most symbolically important of the political entities, filling a spiritual and culturally significant role. In addition, the monarch usually had the respect of his/her citizens and was seen as a highly influential figure. Physical Traits Remarkably, Therans looked very similar to their Earth brothers. Often appearing no more than tall humans at first, Therans had small but vital differences. The most obvious of these was a height difference. Therans were generally slightly taller than most Humans, though this was not always obvious. With females especially this was visible, as their average height was higher than most Human females. With the men this was not always as obvious as tall Human men were roughly the same size as average Therans. Another difference was muscle density. Therans had a much higher concentration of mitochondria in their muscle cells, allowing for increased energy reaction and therefore a higher energy output to volume ratio. This was seen in Therans by their slightly thinner frames, despite the fact that they possessed strength in excess of normal Humans. Therans were also more resistant to dangerous environments and external threats. They were more able to withstand extreme variations in temperature, as well as trauma, for example a sharp or blunt force trauma. They also regenerated tissues and recovered from injuries and fatigue at a markedly increased rate compared to Humans. The species also exhibited an ability to actively neutralise blood-borne threats such as bacteria or viruses. It negated or reduced the damage done by foreign agents in the bloodstream. Theran's skeletal structure was also slightly different than that of humans. Bone plates interconnected between ribs, covering the intercostal muscles and offering more protection against injury. Bones were stronger and slightly thicker, lessening the chances of fractures. The main arteries of Therans also possessed a limited but extremely advantageous ability to close down after a breach. This is similar to this ability in young Humans though it was present throughout Theran's lifespans. Their hearts were almost twice the size of Human's hearts, and their eyes gave them 60% better vision. They could also see far better in low-light conditions. Their brains were more active, unlike Humans who only used a small part of the brain. They had a much higher platelet count in their blood, giving it a deep reddish-orange colour and increasing blood clotting. Their capacity to produce antibodies was massively increased, and, although their lung capacity was not more than that of Humans, they used up to 80% of it, compared to Humans who only used a small portion of their capacity. They had an average lifespan of around one hundred years. Religion The Royal Allegiance remained a mono-religious faction even after their exposure to other races, species and their religions. The religion had no name like 'Christianity' because there was no other religion. It was comparable to the religion of Ancient Greece on Earth; both shared the same Gods and some of the theological ideas but the stories behind the Gods differed. The reason for the similarity was unknown, seeing as 'Ancient Greece' evolved on Earth, thousands of light years away, thousands of years after the Therans became separated from The Order and the humans. The religion evolved on Thera, it was unknown when but it was at least 65,000BC. This meant that the religion existed in the Allegiance before it did on Earth. Military The Royal Allegiance military was split up into three groups; the Navy, the Army and the Marine Corps. Navy The Navy was the oldest of the three and the largest also. It was responsible for the defense of the Allegiance in space, and transporting the other forces to deployment locations or planets. They also patrolled Allegiance territory and kept it safe- they were the first and main line of defense. They were equipped with various types of warships for different purposes. The Allegiance Navy was the largest and most advanced in the galaxy. There were approximately 0.42 Battlegroups to each populated planet in the Allegiance. The structure of the Navy was as follows: *1 Battlegroup made up of 5-30 ships (numbered according to how many in Fleet, e.g Battlegroup 254) *1 Taskforce Made up of 32 Battlegroups (named numerically in Greek letters e.g Taskforce Beta) *1 Fleet made up of 20 Taskforces (named numerically according to how many in Sector fleet e.g 12th Fleet) (640 Battlegroups in a Fleet) *1 Sector Fleet made up of 24 Fleets (e.g 5th Sector Fleet) (15,360 Battlegroups in a Sector Fleet) *Navy made up of 800 Sector Fleets (12,288,000 Battlegroups in the Navy) The Army The Army had the responsibility of all land operations, both offensive and defensive. They were equipped with large numbers of infantry, armoured vehicles, and aircraft. The traditional role of Air Force was filled by the Army Air Corps. They mounted attacks with the assistance of the Navy and provided a versatile defense on the ground. They were nicknamed 'The Grey Army' due to the fact that most of their armour, vehicles and equipment was coloured grey, though this was also a reference to the 'brainwashed' and all identical stereotype held by many Therans of the Army. This belief that soldiers has a lack of individuality was based on the Theran's deep-seated revulsion at the concept of war. Marine Corps The Marine Corps provided the shipboard defense for the Navy, repelling boarding parties and operating primarily in space. Unlike most other marine corps, most notably the UNSC Marine Corps, the Allegiance marines rarely engaged in ground combat, only doing so when there were no army unit present. They were trained mainly in CQB tactics and weaponry, giving them an advantage over most general troops. The Allegiance armed forces benefited from a wide range of technological advancements which enabled them to remain the most efficient in the galaxy. The close relationship between the Elites and the Allegiance meant this technology was passed on to them. Technology The Royal Allegiance was much more advanced than the majority of the races in the Milky Way. Although they did not surpass the Forerunners, they were still regarded as a Tier 1 race. In terms of military technology, combat effectiveness was greatly increased by such engineering prowess. As a Tier One race the Therans were able to manipulate gravitational forces, create AI with full sentience, fabricate super-dense materials, such as Energy Regenerative Armour, perform super-accurate Slipspace navigation and the ability to create worlds. Zero-Point energy This revolutionary power source was used for eons by the Allegiance for power requirements. They powered entire planets in groups of two or three, though with massive generators being bigger than cities. It was only with the turn of the 28th century that miniaturisation began to occur and develop, and generators were developed small enough to be carried by warships. As a result, warship development skyrocketed. The new, near-limitless power source enabled colossal prow-based cannons, shields that could withstand intense bombardment, and FTL travel that eclipsed other races. Zero-Point Generators were capable of generating astronomical amounts of energy. The Forerunner Dreadnought, which utilised a slightly more advanced form of this technology, could power High Charity at 6% of its maximum output. Their basic function was to extract zero-point energy from an artificially-created region of slippace. In physics, zero-point energy was the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may possess and was the energy of the ground state of the system. Weaponry Particle Cannons were principle on which all Allegiance weapons were based. They took the form of small arms weapons, vehicle-mounted weapons and even warship-based weapons, being a versatile and hugely adaptive technology with a large scope for adaption. Particle Cannons reached the theoretical peak of their advancement at some point before the Remnant War, although in practicality more efficient, reliable and powerful weapons were continually produced. The Allegiance was known to make use of ballistic weaponry though had replaced this with directed energy weapons at some point before recorded history. The Allegiance also made extensive use of missiles and other guided munitions in addition to directed energy weapons. Faster than Light Travel Since before the founding of the Allegiance, vessels were capable of FTL travel. The earliest drives were simply scavenged parts welded together or crudely constructed from complex Forerunner blueprints. Eventually entirely new FTL drives were created, using the limited knowledge the Therans had picked up, of what worked, what didn't and what exploded. Over time, drives were mass-produced and slowly refined with millennia of continuous use. These were around half as effective as Forerunner drives, though by around 2650 the maximum speed reached around 300 light years per hour, still less than the maximum attained by the Forerunners but not sufficient to warrant continued advancement. In short- The Allegiance believed that it was no longer to their advantage developing only marginally faster drives. Research into alternative methods of superluminal travel including Graviton manipulation met some initial success, though no revolutionary breakthroughs were made before 2700. In 2719 a prototype Jump Drive was created which manipulated gravitons in subspace to produce near-infinite speed. However, the Swarm War meant that theoretical projects and non-weapon development programs such as propulsion were canceled, deemed not as important as producing war machines to fight the Swarm. Geographical Details The territory of The Royal Allegiance spanned approximately 45,000 light years across at its farthest points. In terms of populated planets, in the core of Allegiance space in the Perseus Arm, the most populated planets were all extremely close to each other by relative standards. Exclusive of the core worlds, populated Allegiance planets were few and far between and, although there were over 7 billion worlds that, with terraforming, could support human life, only 29 million were populated, meaning only 1 in 258 worlds were populated, less than 0.5%. As a result, Allegiance space was large but rather empty and devoid of life; this was certainly true in 2733, but after the Swarm War, with massive loss of territory the populating of the Allegiance became more intensively located. A massive project was planned for commencement in 2741, aiming to populate at least 1% of the Allegiance's terraformable worlds. In 2733 the project was cancelled and its considerable budget re-assigned to military needs. The UNSC's territories differed in that they were rather small, though within this space planets were everywhere. The reason for the Allegiance's planets being so spread out within their territory is that, until around 2650, terraforming was impossible. As a result, nearer planets that could support life if terraformed were skipped, in favour of a farther planet that did not require terraforming. The UNSC developed terraforming far before the Allegiance; a possible cause of this would be that the Allegiance had the ability to travel further to inhabitable planets, so terraforming was not a necessity, while the UNSC had limited traveling abilities and had to make the most of every planet they could reach. The Royal Allegiance had amassed a population of over four hundred thirty-five trillion by 2700, an average population of just 15 million per planet. The Allegiance Navy was the largest in the galaxy, but there was still less than half a Naval Battlegroup to each planet. Navy expansion was sidetracked in favour of more intensive terraforming operations. The Swarm War resulted in the loss of twenty million of the Allegiance's 29 million planets and 300 trillion Therans of a 435 trillion population. No other participatory factions suffered nearly so badly in terms of worlds lost, though as a percentage of worlds lost the Allegiance fared better than most other factions.